Top of the PR Pops: April highlights

It's that time again when we take a look back at the campaigns, stunts and happenings from the world of PR, social and digital that have inspired us or got us talking over the last month... 

A roaring success

(Sorry for the terrible pun, I couldn't help myself)

Although this was totally unplanned, it is arguably the best flashmob there has ever been. 

Not only does it demonstrate how fantastically talented the cast of The Lion King are, but their passion and energy is almost palpable just from watching the amateur footage captured on a mobile phone, making you wonder just how brilliant it would be to see the show live. 

With nearly 1.4 million views on YouTube I can imagine this has contributed to a fair few ticket sales! 

Changing perceptions

I absolutely love this campaign by ASH, Action on Smoking and Health, an organisation which aims to end worldwide disease, damage and death caused by tabacco.   

It's widely accepted that for decades many young people have developed an addiction to cigarettes as a result of peer pressure and a desire to appear "cool." 

So, can you think of a better way to prevent more people from smoking and encourage others to quit than busting the myth that doing so has a positive impact on your image by creating a social experiment on a widely used dating app based solely on appearance?

Not your typical Easter bunny campaign... 

I'm one of those annoying people who take Instagram photos of their culinary creations so usually I enjoy the occasional quirky campaign from a food brand. But I think I'll pass on this one...

The New Zealand pizza company, HELL, decided to serve up a special rabbit pizza in celebration of Easter. Ok, I can see their logic but would you really promote it by creating a billboard made from what appears to be dead rabbits? 

I'm sure it certainly got their restaurant talked about, which is what I am sure they were going for, but would the campaign have whetted your appetite? 

(image taken from PR Example's website) 

#SorryNotSorry - the perfect formal apology

I love this "formal apology" from BrewDog to the Portland Group who officially banned their Dead Pony Club 3.6% ale due to the "inappropriate use of humour" in their marketing... 

"On behalf of BrewDog PLC and its 14,691 individual shareholders, I would like to issue a formal apology to the Portman Group for not giving a shit about today’s ruling. Indeed, we are sorry for never giving a shit about anything the Portman Group has to say, and treating all of its statements with callous indifference and nonchalance.

Unfortunately, the Portman Group is a gloomy gaggle of killjoy jobsworths, funded by navel-gazing international drinks giants. Their raison d’être is to provide a diversion for the true evils of this industry, perpetrated by the gigantic faceless brands that pay their wages. Blinkered by this soulless mission, they treat beer drinkers like brain dead zombies and vilify creativity and competition. Therefore, we have never given a second thought to any of the grubby newspeak they disseminate periodically."

The response just gets better as you keep reading. It reflects their brand image, their commitment to their consumers and gives them an opportunity to talk of the quality of their craft beer products in comparison to their "faceless mega brewers whose pricing reaps havoc on society."  You can read the full statement here.

What have we been up to over the last month?

Well it's been an insanely busy month for the Mynewsdesk team, so I'll try to keep it brief...

1.  We published our latest What's the story? 2014 newsroom report which analyses the newsroom practice of 50 of the UK's top brands and organisations across sectors which include Travel, Local authorities, Universities, High Street and Grocery. 
2. We launched our official Agency Partnership Programme
3. We presented and sponsored The PR Summit, we have a blog post with our favourite highlights from the event on the way.

And finally...

We officially launched our event,  #FutureComms14, which will bring together over 200 marcomms professionals and some of the world’s leading brands and agencies including O2, BOTTLE, Cancer Research UK, Edelman, National Trust and more to inspire us all to rise to the communications challenges of today and the near future. 

Book now in order to take advantage of our Early Bird discount rate.